Mastermind
by Ataralassie
Summary: It takes place a bit before Amrod and Amras are born. Just a look into the childhood of the sons of Feanor. Pretty much, Curufin was always an evil genius


Disclaimer: I own nothing. I wish I did, but none of it's mine. Everything but the plot belongs to Tolkien.

Maglor sighed as he watched his younger siblings, and wondered how in Arda he'd gotten stuck with babysitting duty. Again. It was the third time in a row. _I have to admit,_ he thought as he plucked out a chord on his harp, _Maitimo is getting pretty good at suddenly disappearing whenever he is needed. I should learn that trick..._

He plucked out a few more notes and considered them_. _Deciding that they weren't quite right, he tried a few more that seemed to work out better. He glanced up back at his brothers. Celegorm and Caranthir were over in the corner playing chess. It was an odd choice for Celegorm, who was usually outside with Huan wandering around somewhere, but Maglor wasn't going to question it. All the better to keep track of him.

Curufin was a little way's off, finishing up a Mini-Tirion that sprawled across the floor of the playroom. It was pretty impressive, Maglor reflected. _Of course,_ he thought, _I would probably appreciate it more if I weren't boxed in by it. How am I supposed to get out of here? _He sighed.

Curufin clicked the last few blocks together and looked appraisingly at his work. He nodded, apparently satisfied. "I am Lord and Master of all I see!" he said, "High king of the Noldor in Tirion...kind of."

Sometimes, Maglor honestly wondered about his little brother.

"Look Tyelkormo!" Curufin called.

"Uh-huh." Celegorm muttered, not taking his eyes off the game, "Very nice, Curvo."

"You didn't even look at it." Curufin grumbled.

Maglor shook his head. Usually Curufin and Celegorm were inseparable, but recently Celegorm had decided it wasn't proper for him to pay his little brother much mind. He remembered when Maedhros went into that phase. It didn't last long, (Maglor liked to think Maedhros realized just how incredibly _boring_ his life was without him), but the rejection still stung.

"It's fantastic, oh mighty king." Maglor said, playing into his little brother's game, "But you've seemed to have trapped me in here. I'm assuming it wasn't your intention to take me prisoner?"

Curufin ignored him. He got up from his spot on the floor and walked over to where his two older brothers were playing their game. It was Celegorm's move.

His hand was hovering over a pawn.

"Oh, don't do that!" Curufin said.

Celegorm sighed and flashed a condescending smile at his younger brother, "I think I know what I'm doing a bit better than you do."

"Fine." Curufin muttered, "We all know who's smarter though..."

Celegorm glared. Maglor could tell he was about to make some remark, so he flashed him "The Look." The look that said, "Say anything stupid and you will face my wrath." Celegorm decided it was best not to test his luck, so he kept his mouth shut.

* * *

It took him a while, but Maglor had figured out how to remove himself from Curufin's Mini-Tirion without knocking everything over. He was in the kitchen making lunch when Celegorm came through, Curufin trailing behind

"I'm going for a walk." He said.

"Me too." said the younger elfling

Celegorm rolled his eyes.

Maglor gave him "The look" again. He was getting quite good at it, granted not as good as his father, or even Maedhros, but still pretty good.

"Fine." Celegorm muttered. "C'mon."

* * *

"And so that is why you can't come with me." Celegorm finished

Curufin blinked. "And your _serious_?"

"Little brother." Celegorm said putting an arm around his brother's shoulder as he began to walk him back to the house, "Would I lie to you?"

"A monster?" Curufin asked. "As big as a tree? With eyes like fire? And teeth like daggers and claws like swords?" He laughed, "Your funny Turko, you know that?"

"I'm not trying to be."

Curufin thought for a moment, "But then, why wouldn't this monster eat you? Why would this creature suddenly appear if _I'm _there_?" _He pushed his brother's arm off and turned back towards the forest, "I think your trying to get rid of me."

_Then why don't you just take the hint and get out of here?_ Celegorm thought. He didn't let his thoughts show though. "No! _No! Never!_" He said. "I don't really care if I'm eaten. I'm too brave for that! But if given the choice, the monster will want to eat you, you being younger and more tender. I'm too old and stringy. And if I come home without you, Atar will kill me. Given the choice, I'd rather face the monster."

"I think I'll take my chances." Was Curufin's reply.

"Alright, just remember, I warned you."

They walked father into the forest. The trees began to grow closer together, and the little bit of golden light that filtered through from Laurelin gave everything an eerie glow. The two elves had to duck underneath low hanging branches which reached out for them like grabbing arms.

Curufin heard something moving off in the distance. "So, if this monster is so big, how come no one's ever seen it?" he asked.

Celegorm thought for a moment. "Because it can turn invisible." he said, "Yep, that's it. It can turn invisible as the wind in the trees."

"Oh." Curufin looked off to the side, not entirely sure what he was expecting to see. He thought he saw a flash of movement above him, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. _Just a bird_. He thought. He noticed Celegorm was up farther ahead of him. "Tyelkormo! Wait for me!" he cried, rushing up to catch his brother.

They walked on a few more moments, when Celegorm suddenly stopped.

"What?" Curufin asked.

"Shh!" Celegorm hissed, "Curvo, _look."_

Right infront of them was a pair of glowing eyes.

"Now," Celegorm said, "If we're fast enough, maybe we can get away from it. Now, when I say go, you run home, alright?"

Curufin nodded.

"Ready then...one...two...three..._Run!"_

And Curufin started running for home. And then he head something from behind him.

"Alright, not as big as a tree, I'll admit, but big enough to scare an annoying little brother. Good dog, Huan. Thanks for bringing him Carnistir."

Curufin glared. Of all the evil, low, mean things...he smirked. He'd just gotten an Idea. Don't get mad. Never get mad. _Get even._

* * *

"Atar's going to kill me." Maglor groaned, coming out of Celegorm, Curufin, and Caranthir's room.

"No." Maedhros, who had come home a few moments earlier said. He leaned against the wall. "_Ammë _is going to kill you. _Atar_ is going to go to Mandos and demand you have your life restored to you, and then he's going to make you wish you were dead."

"Har Har." Maglor muttered. "I'm not the only one who's going to be blamed you know. You were supposed to be here too, helping me watch them." he paused, "Do you really think they'll miss Carnistir all that much?" he asked hopefully.

"What do you think?" Maedhros asked. He sighed. "Come on," he said, standing up and heading outside, "We haven't checked the garden-"

A loud crashing sound interrupted him. Both elves ran toward it, only to find Curufin on the floor, digging through a box of candles.

"What are you-" Maedhros began.

"What's it look like?" Curufin asked. He examined a long, thin, candle and nodded. "Do we have any more like these?"

Maglor blinked. "Wait...what? I mean...no! What have you been told about playing with fire?"

Curufin considered the question for a moment, "Do you want the answer Atya tells me to tell Ammë, or the real answer?"

Maglor looked dismayed, "Is there a difference?"

"Atya says that I can, so long as Ammë isn't around, but he prefers it if he's there to make sure I don't get hurt. He says it's good for me to explore my curiosity. But I'm supposed to tell Ammë that he says I'm not aloud to at all." Curufin paused a moment, "Did you know how many colors you can get flames to glow?"

"Eru help me!" Maglor cried.

"Now you know why I always seem to have plans with Findekáno whenever we have to watch them." Maedhros muttered.

Maglor wasn't listening though, he was too busy shaking his head muttering, "My brother, the pyromaniac!"

Maedhros smirked, "Of course! Look where he gets it from!" he turned back to Curufin, "what are you doing anyway?"

"Getting revenge on Tyelkormo and Carnistir."

"Can we help?"

Maglor stared at his brother, shocked.

"What?" Maedhros asked, "We'll find out where Carnistir's dissapeared to, and stop Curvo from hurting himself. Besides, what could he possibly have planned anyway?"

* * *

"And why am I doing this again?" Maedhros asked tying the candle to the end of the tree. "I hate heights!"

"Because I can't tie knots." Curufin called up

"_You _can't tie knots? You, who built a miniature Tirion, to scale, in a single afternoon?" Maglor said.

"Shouldn't you be getting Carnistir and Tyelkormo by now?" Curufin snapped.

"Alright. Alright." He turned towards the tree, "Look on the bright side Maitimo, after today, you'll never have to go so high again!" he called up before heading off.

* * *

He found the two exactly where Curufin said they'd be. Sitting by a lake in the middle of a clearing, Celegorm's favorite spot apparently.

He called over to them, "Has either of you seen Curvo?" he asked.

They both shook their heads.

"I thought he went home." Celegorm said

"No. I haven't seen him. Come, you two will help look."

He led them off into the dark part of the forest where Curufin and Maedhros were setting up. The two candles were now lit and hung from the tree, and they really did look like eyes.

"Who dare enter my forest?" he heard Curufin bellow in as deep and booming a voice as he could manage. Maglor had to admit, he wasn't bad.

"W-who said that?" Caranthir asked. He turned to Celegorm and hissed, 'I thought you made that whole monster thing up!"

"So did I..." Celegorm whispered.

"Oh! Three more elves for me to eat!" Curufin said, "That little one was hardly a snack!"

"Little one?" Maglor asked.

"Yes, the extraordinarily brave, good looking, intelligent, black-haired one."

Maglor rolled his eyes. Apparently the other two were too scared to notice though.

"Y-you ate our brother?" Celegorm asked

"Yes! And now it's your turn!"

Celegorm and Caranthir screamed and began to run away but then Curufin came out from behind the tree laughing. "You two should see your faces!"

"_What?" _Celegorm said, turning around. Caranthir was caught somewhere between anger and fear, and so was having difficulty finding words

Curufin tried to stop laughing and catch his breath. "That was all me! And now you know not to mess with anyone smarter than you!"

Celegorm shook his head, "You are evil..." were the only words he could manage. It wasn't fear or confusion that stole words from him now though, it was anger.

"And better to have on you side than working against you." Curufin added quickly.

Celegorm seemed to consider this. "Your right, little brother, your absolutely right!" he put an arm around Curufin's shoulder, "You know, it might not be so bad working with you." He turned back and called to Caranthir, "Come on, we've got some plans to make!"

Caranthir caught up with them and they began talking, "You know, Angaráto's been getting on my nerves lately..."

Maglor sighed, "Why do I feel like we should keep an eye on them- two if we can spare it- for the safety of Valinor?"

"Because we should." Maedhros replied, "Because our youngest brother is an evil genius. But look on the bright side Makalaurë, at least there are only three of them."

"Yeah," Maglor said, "Could you _imagine_ how bad it'd be if we had more brothers?"

"Personaly, I'd rather not even think about it."


End file.
